Crafting the Introduction to a Scientific Presentation: Create a mystery box

1. Steve Lee, PhD
CLIMB Program
Assistant Director
Winter 2013
Crafting the Introduction to a
Scientific Presentation:
Create a mystery box

2. Our CLIMB curriculum of workshops
on communication in scientific research:
2
1) Delivering scientific presentations and posters for impact:
Make it stick with SUCCESs
2) Crafting the introduction to a scientific presentation:
Create a mystery box
3) Communicating and collaborating across disciplines:
Use simple words
4) Displaying visual evidence in scientific presentations:
Help viewers make valid scientific decisions

3. 3
Why are we focusing on a 10-minute
presentation to a broad audience?
● to stretch your communication skills with a
tough challenge:
○ to explain your research concisely and
○ to engage a broad audience
● to help you collaborate across your fields
● to provide a brief presentation for all to
practice

4. 4
How do you set up your intro?
The traditional introduction is boring
● background
○ full of acronyms and jargon
○ definitions (maybe)
● question
● hypothesis
This is dry and does not engage the audience.

5. 5
Instead, set up a scientific story
for your introduction
● A story helps to connect with a broad audience
○ they won’t be familiar with the context and
jargon
● Set up a scientific story by creating a mystery
box
○ Let’s view JJ Abram’s
TED talk

6. 6
How do you create a mystery box?
● help your audience to imagine
○ ex: a major problem will be solved
with this new instrument
● explain why your research is significant
○ ex: the disease affects millions of people
● describe why your research is so fascinating
○ a unique or counter-intuitive research
puzzle

7. Remember to address the Curse of Knowledge:
make your ideas stick with SUCCESs
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Simple: find and share the core message
Unexpected: get their attention – surprise or twist
Concrete: help people understand – be specific
Credible: help people believe – give evidence
Emotional: help people to care – inspire
Stories: share ideas to simulate and inspire

8. 8
Inform
○ concrete information
○ visual and audio info
○ details; raw data
○ credible evidence
But, if you only inform,
your talk may be:
○ dry or flat
○ random details
○ lack meaning
Inspire
○ significance
○ stories & analogies
○ cast a vision for future
○ big picture
But, if you only inspire,
your talk may be:
○ vague
○ ambiguous
○ not concrete
Communicate to inform and inspire

9. The challenge is to go broad and deep
speak to broad audiences: use analogies and illustrations
9
speak deeply:
use 1 or 2 examples for
the experts

10. For slides: pay attention to these details
● plan for 1-2 min/slide
○ for 10-min talk: 5-8 slides
● maximize the “info to ink” ratio
● don’t use serif fonts (e.g. Times New Roman)
● convert bullet lists into word tables (if possible)
● use message or question titles
10

11. Practice and get feedback
● pay attention to your physical stance
○ your posture affects your audience’s perception
of you
○ and your performance as well
● View Amy Cuddy’s Poptech talk
● connect your spoken words with slides
● get feedback early and often
11

12. Your first practice: set up your intro
● select a research project with some results
● present your intro (few slides)
● explain up to your question and hypothesis
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Scheduling
● Winter
Quarter
● Spring
Quarter
○ Part 1: intro
○ Part 2: intro + design and methods
○ Part 3: full presentations (videotaped)
○ individual mtgs for feedback